Linda Carman

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Sausage is a Southern Staple

We’ve talked about the humble hog and how it was a main food source through good times and bad for many on small farms. Hogs were easier to raise than cattle and could be smoked/preserved to last through the cold winter months. We often associate ham with hogs, but sausage is certainly a big part of our culinary heritage, too. Any leftover scraps of raw meat would be ground, seasoned and cooked fresh or smoked for later use.

To me, sausage always brings to mind hearty breakfast, eaten with hot biscuits, gravy and eggs. The drippings from cooking sausage was used to make delicious gravy and for seasoning vegetables served for dinner. Judging from the varieties of sausage available in grocery stores today, it obviously continues to be a Southern favorite.

Sausage is not limited to breakfast – we love it in casseroles, combined with ground beef for meat loaf and in little sausage balls served as appetizers. We like to cook, crumble and add it to cornbread, cornbread dressing and dumplings.